


Fake Season Three Plots

by enbied



Category: Degrassi: Next Class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-08 23:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8867410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbied/pseuds/enbied
Summary: actually just my dream season composed purely of stories I would care about lol. guaranteed happy endings for triles





	1. Chapter 1

ZIG tries to apologise to MAYA one last time and promise to leave her alone from now on but she just glares at him, not responding. He storms off. She’s a little dazed, but gets distracted by GRACE, who says she can’t play their gig that night because she has to babysit her little sister.

ZOË runs into ZIG who is walking angrily away from Maya. He asks her coldly whether she even feels bad about what she did, whether she has any heart at all. She says nothing, and as he walks off, she realises she has never experienced empathy. The bell for class chimes, but she heads to the greenhouse to burn herself, believing it to be an equitable punishment, since she’s heard guilt is supposed to hurt. ESME saunters in and notices she has been self injuring. She asks if Zoë wants to talk.

TRISTAN and MILES get hot and heavy at Tristan’s house. Tristan’s dad comes home, finds them hastily putting their clothes on, and makes Miles leave. Tris tries to initiate a mature talk with his dad and starts off saying they’re always safe and that he’s sorry he saw things but he didn’t think he’d be home, but Tristan’s dad won’t hear a word of it, simply insisting that they are not to have sex under his roof ever again. Tristan surrenders and meekly asks if it’s because they’re both guys, which his dad negates, saying the rule was the same for Owen.

MAYA is at her gig that night and blanks out, stopping mid-line and staring into space for a moment. When the song is over, JONAH expresses concern, but Maya says it’s probably just stress and continues with the set. Jonah tells her mom to look out for her, but Maya gets annoyed at him and tells her mom she’s fine, she just forgot the words because she’d been thinking of rewriting them.

ESME and ZOË have evidently been hitting it off, talking. Zoë asks jokingly if she’s trying to make a Miles out of her, and tells her she’s already been down the drug road, but Esme just smiles and says all she’s looking for is "a friend who won’t judge me for my crazy”. She asks Zoë if she plans to get more acting roles, and when she says yes, Esme reminds her that leaving marks isn’t going to help with that, and if she really can’t stop, she should switch to places she can hide better. Zoë says nothing for a moment, then notes that Miles is happier now than ever before, and that maybe she should at least _try_ therapy. Esme admits there’s a chance it could help, but she’s personally never had anything good come of it. ZOË texts Miles for the number for his therapist (which makes no sense because they shouldn’t see the same one but whatever it'd be a casting thing lmao)

TRISTAN and MILES are at Tristan’s house, watching a movie. Miles says some flirty nonsense in French and Tristan’s like mmmmfuck and kisses him and Miles tries to make it more than that but Tris dodges and tells Miles about the rule his dad made. Miles doesn’t take it seriously and asks if it’s _actually_ about how consent one time isn't an all-access pass, but Tristan says, he just respects his parents because they’ve been good to him. He acknowledges that it’s hard for Miles to understand because his situation is different but Tristan cares about his parents' opinions and rules. Miles reminds him they practically pushed Tristan into Yates’ arms with their terrible parenting, and it'd be good revenge to break the rule as they’d never find out anyway, but Tristan counters that they have been trying harder lately and that _he_ would know which would upset _him_ , but Miles just feels like he's not important to Tris and leaves.

It’s time for ZOË’s therapist appointment. He tells her people come to terms with their sexuality at different paces, and that Tristan was wrong to assume her experience would be the same as his, but she can learn to love that part of herself. He says it’s a tentative diagnosis because he hasn’t known her long, but it sounds like Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She is offended and asks how she could be a narcissist if she hates herself. He tries to explain that all it means is that she sees the world a different way, but she won’t listen and yells at him to leave. Out of frustration, she burns again. It’s becoming habitual to respond to any emotion with self injury.

MAYA is in class, listening to instructions before the groups perform the lab experiment. She zones out while the teacher gives an important instruction, but GRACE catches her before she puts the wrong ingredient in the beaker. Grace urges her to see a doctor if it’s getting this dangerous, but Maya brushes it off and says they don’t have the money.

TRISTAN’s parents read his mail, finding out that he’s been subpoenaed to talk about Grant Yates in a trial about another case of underage student abuse. The truth about his relationship comes out, and they make him feel stupid. He tells them he was manipulated and groomed, but they actually agree and blame his silence for this other kid’s abuse. He leaves his house, crying (I wanna see Lyle cry please), and fucks off to Miles’ without warning.

Another scene of ZOË making GRACE feel like shit, and Grace asks what more she could want; she’s suffered enough, and she’s already given a genuine apology. She never wanted to hurt her; she pushed herself out of her comfort zone to make her happy. Zoë realises needs to let it go, even if only for herself. She googles the signs of NPD, realising that they fit her quite well (through Hunter style flashbacks) and it’s not all just thinking she’s perfect. She realises, calls therapist who is booked out for days. She is about to remove her bra to burn somewhere less visible, but gets a notification from MILES and decides to call him. He picks up but she freezes and can’t say anything. He asks if she’s okay, she whispers “No”, and he invites her over to talk.

MAYA is driving home from her gig with JONAH and FRANKIE in the car, and has a seizure while driving. JONAH grabs the wheel and when she regains consciousness, gets her to pull over, lets Frankie out because she’s like two blocks from her house (she isn’t upset) and switches seats and drives her to the nearest hospital. Maya is shaken because not only could she have died, she could have died _again_.

MILES, TRIS and ZOË talk about NPD, and Zoë realises she probably should apologise to people even though she doesn’t feel the same things most other people do. Making amends for hurting people becomes important to her, because “even if I can’t feel guilt then I want to at least act like she understands her actions. She starts by apologising to Tris for the list of things she’s done to him, and he forgives her, and apologises back, admitting he’s not a perfect friend either. She feels noticeably better, and they hug.  She then apologises to Miles for being so vengeful in and after Paris.

TRISTAN reveals his news after seeing ZOË make such a brave move. MILES and Zoë both tell him it’s not his fault, that Yates as an adult had the responsibility to reject his advances. Tristan decides, with the full support of his boyfriend (whose arm is around him because aww) and his best friend, to take the position that Yates was wrong. Zoë offers to coach him on how to tell his story, saying helping other people would be a healthy distraction.

ZOË runs into FRANKIE in the hall as she’s coming back from the gig. Frankie ignores her but Zoë asks if they could talk. Frankie says she’d rather not, but Zoë says she wants to apologise, and for Frankie to feel heard, because Zoë knows she often only thinks of her own perspective. Frankie just smiles and hugs her. Zoë is confused, but Frankie says she’s forgiven and that all she ever wanted was for her to care. Zoë doesn’t really buy it, but promises to make an effort to be a better friend, if she wants to be friends again. Frankie smiles and says she had missed her.

MAYA is at the hospital with JONAH and her mom and is finally diagnosed with simple absence seizures from post-traumatic epilepsy. She’s prescribed a medication and kept overnight for monitoring and GRACE FaceTimes her to say she’ll be there tomorrow. JONAH leaves but her mom stays, and there's an emotional moment where her mom tells her that her health is more important than money because she's such a fantastic mom as usual.

ZOË sees her psych again and tells him humbly about the progress she made. He’s pleased, and asks how her self injury has been. She gets uncomfortable, and struggles to voice her thoughts. Her psych offers some paper and a pen, and she writes that she started burning more hidden areas on her body, but she felt that she had to move it because she couldn’t stop but she doesn’t want casting directors to reject her. He helps her think of DBT strategies and she walks out with a list of distractions and motivation not to hurt herself yay

TRISTAN is worried going to court could affect his career. While Miles goes to get drinks he tells ZOË he’s having second thoughts – he wasn’t assaulted the same way she was; maybe it was his own fault for going after Yates when he intentionally made it so hard. Zoë won’t have a bar of it, saying she saw how destructive that guy was to Tristan’s life, and she can see it still affects him. Miles returns and Tris shushes her.

ZOË tells ESME that she’s finally making her life better – she’s going to get the power cheer team together to apologise to them too. Esme’s glad to see her feeling okay, but seeing Zoë so obsessed with trying to fix all the injustices she caused, she’s a little peeved and asks, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Zoë takes a minute to realise that she needs to talk things out with Esme too. “Zoë, all I did was playfully tease you but you took it way too far and used my own kindness to steal the role I earned.” Zoë apologises for forgetting to talk with her, and for taking the role and being mean about it, and for the cultural appropriation and not meaning her apology about that. Esme says she’s forgiven, and they both smile (but they’re just friends).


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> these will never be beta'd because I know for a fact there will be huge inconsistencies i'd have to rearrange everything for

While on a date (at the fancy as hell restaurant Zig tried to take Maya to) MILES casually informs TRISTAN that he's colour blind, causing Tristan to feel that he doesn't know him as well as a boyfriend should. He starts asking Miles questions about why he didn’t order this or that (while also forgetting his own food), wanting to know what he doesn’t like and whether it’s the texture or taste or somethin else. Miles tries to calm him down, knowing he’s just trying to distract himself from the upcoming court case, but Tristan insists that he wants to know Miles inside and out. Miles asks if it’s because he didn’t know “ _him_ ” very well, and Tristan reluctantly admits that’s probably what it is. Miles decides to humour him and gives him the go-ahead to recommence his “interrogation”.

YAEL rolls her eyes at LOLA’S presentation on the chemical properties of her favourite lipstick. Lola gets a little upset and privately asks her what was wrong with her presentation.  Yael boasts about the intelligence of her own project about some super complex gene gun, but says Lola obviously just wants men to think girls are all super stereotypical. Lola says, “I didn’t say all girls like make-up.  I’m just trying to make chem easier by researching something I’m interested in.” Yael tells her she’s making it harder for other women by not even trying to prove that women can be smart. Nerdy science pun teacher tries to calm them down because it’s getting heated and Lola is like, “So you’re saying girls aren’t allowed to care what they look like? Let’s see what’s under here then.” and rips off Yael’s wig. Underneath it she has short, thin hair with bald patches, and she runs out while Lola still holds it.

HUNTER opens the washroom door slightly and calls to YAEL, saying that he got her wig back. She tells him not to look at her while she grabs it and puts it back on. Once she leaves the bathroom, they skip the rest of their class to talk. He saw her hair and asks if she’s sick. She’s ashamed to admit she has trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder that compels her to pull her hair out. Her family says she’s had it since she was four years old. He asks why she can’t just stop. She sighs, saying, ‘I knew you wouldn’t get it.’ and goes to leave, but Hunter says she didn’t really give him a _chance_ to get it, but he’s willing to listen, if she’d like to explain it. She tells him it’s like his nail biting; she usually doesn’t realise she’s doing it, but sometimes it feels so stupid and hopeless she just lets herself pull consciously. She tells him it got worse when she started wearing a wig because it was like a back-up if her trich got too bad y’know? but Hunter starts to get angry, saying it’s not fair that she has to go through all this shit with other kids as well. She calms him down and saysshe can handle it.  

GOLDI, in the racism committee meeting, hears LOLA bitching about her scuffle with Yael, and at the end of the meeting Goldi suggests a quick brainstorming session to show everyone why people wear make-up aside from boys or society. Lola says simply, “I like looking pretty.” but Shay mentions that others probably have different reasons. One kid mentions that they’re shy about a childhood scar, others mention that it’s fun, then someone brings up a specific product and someone mentions they’re allergic to that. The conversation turns, we hear that Shay gets break outs if she works out for too long, someone mentions they have that too but on their chest. Other kids mention being frustrated with birthmarks, scarring, freckles, eczema etc. There’s discussion of why make-up is art and not ‘false advertising’ or ‘being ashamed of how you look’ and some people bring up how expensive it can be but when you don’t wear it people shame you for that too. Vijay chimes in that he wishes he had the confidence to wear make-up because his acne gets him down. Lola promises to take him shopping.

YAEL and LOLA get called to SIMPSON’s office and they are hostile to each other. Lola expresses sincerely that she’s sorry for taking Yael’s wig but she felt very hurt and judged, and it wasn’t fair for Yael to think she’s better than her just because she’s smart. Yael is rude and stubborn and ignores her, changing the focus to how degrading it was for her. Simpson mediates, reminding her that Lola felt degraded too. Yael tries to hold her obstinate position but Lola starts talking about how she’s jealous of people who are super smart like Yael, and how she wishes she had the ability to do things like her High School Secrets app but she’s just built for changing the world in other ways. Yael softens, and apologises.

TRISTAN is still asking MILES question after question. The subject matter is getting deeper, things like ‘do you have any allergies?’ ‘do you like surprises’ ‘what’s your favourite childhood memory?’ and Miles answers honestly, but out of nowhere Tris asks how many kids he wants, and Miles goes silent. Tris says, “You can say zero; it’s not, like, a deal breaker.” Miles tells him he doesn’t want to talk about that, and Tris asks if it’s because of his parents. Miles is evasive and Tris asks him whether he’s supposed to let it go or push him to talk about it. Miles is quiet for a moment, but then tells Tris that he already knows Miles better than he knows himself. Tris smiles. Miles promises to talk about it tomorrow, and Tristan accepts.

GOLDI is preparing her presentation for the assembly when BAAZ appears and begins to mock her. He says he sides with Yael about “basic bitches” who are “obsessed” with make up. He gives his opinion on the ideal make up women should wear, citing Kim Kardashian as a natural beauty. Goldi informs him that people often wear make-up that just appears natural, but he just laughs. He tells her to use her platform for something more important than make-up, like *insert random MRA WhatAboutIsm*. Goldi informs him that *insert negating statistic* and he rolls his eyes, pretending she had no argument, and while he leaves, he says he’s pretty sure make up is haram anyway.  She argues that actually the Qur’an says nothing about wearing make up for oneself, but if he thinks women should wear his ideal make-up so he can look at them in haram ways, he has no right to judge her and her faith.

TRISTAN and Miles are in media class working on a project together so they get to talk. Miles says he’s interested in photography but it’s hard to get into it and also he’s colour blind. Tris says he always thought he’d end up as some kind of freelance creative type, maybe web design or writing, and Miles says he never had a dream job. They end up talking about Tris’ acting career and how they might be in other cities or even countries for long periods of time. Miles says he wants to stay together, and Tris quickly agrees, but they both acknowledge it’d be hard sometimes. Miles says he’d follow Tris anywhere if he wanted that, but Tris is all, ‘No, do your own thing, have your own life and sense of self’ and Miles is like ‘ok but if you end up somewhere out of Toronto can I come because I don’t really wanna stay here y’know because of my dad’ and Tris like touches his face and he’s smiling and says of course and Miles does a cute grateful smile even tho they both know it’s not like a _plan_ just a transient idea.

GOLDI gives her speech with LOLA, mentioning that equality will never be reached if women keep tearing each other down for caring too much or too little about how they look. Breaking stereotypes doesn’t make you more valid of a person than anyone else. Also it’s okay to not wear make-up even if you have skin problems. Feminism, feminism, feminism, then after the speech Yael and Vijay talk with Goldi about how they could see an issue with the game they were playing but it wasn’t fair to take their team work, place of acceptance etc. when Hunter had agreed to a compromise, and they didn’t deserve to be punished for one person’s actions that they didn’t stand by. Goldi acquiesces about those points and promises not to look for a fight anymore. They (and Lola) join feminist club because as unrealistic as all of this is, it’s what I want :)

YAEL and HUNTER are talking while gaming. She tells him she told one person about her trich, at her old school, but that trust was misplaced and the girl told everyone and it’s one of the reasons she changed schools. Hunter says they could still go back to see Simpson and ask him to get her teachers up to speed on letting her use tangles and stim toys, but she says she doesn’t want the drama. He says some cheesy shit like, ‘but I want the world to be perfect for my girlfriend’ but she’s like ‘Hunter, you need to understand that this is _my_ life and it’s not your place to make decisions for me and you can’t possibly know how I feel about things you just learned about five minutes ago.’ Hunter is like, ‘Yeah you’re right I’m sorry I support your choice’ or something look I don’t really care about them okay I just want my trich represented lol

TRISTAN and MILES are hanging out in Miles’ room watching the sunset through his window (pretend his windows face west lol). Miles has his arm around Tris, being all cute and stroking his arm and shit, but Tris brings up the fact that he promised to talk about That Thing today and he has to go home in like an hour. Miles admits he doesn’t really want kids, but only because he thinks he’d be a shit father because he was a shit father to the robot baby and also he feels like a shit brother/son/friend/boyfriend. Tris says if they ever did have kids they’d obviously wait until they were more mature and emotionally stable and had steady jobs. Miles suggests they just foster teens because that’d be easier legally/logistically. “Give them food and necessities and they’ll just do their own thing, right?” Tris says it’s probably way more complicated than either of them realise, but he’d like to do that with Miles. And then Tris comforts him and tells him he’s not shit at any of those things and they’re schmoopy for ten minutes the end


	3. Chapter 3

VIJAY, inspired by Goldi’s speech, has released a new music video in which he wears dramatic make-up. He tweets that he did it himself with his older sister’s make-up collection, and his fans ask for a tutorial. He posts a selfie on Hastygram to respond that he’ll film it when he gets home from school.

TRISTAN and MILES are at lunch, across from each other, on their phones (lol). Miles is eating a proper meal but Tris is avoiding his, like, three carrot sticks. Tris notices that Miles hasn’t deleted some old Hastygram pictures with his ex-girlfriends and demands he delete all of them, “Especially the Maya ones.” Miles coolly says everything he left up had another meaning to him; it was nice to reminisce on for reasons other than the relationship. Tristan picks one out of him with Maya and accusatorily asks him what it meant to him, and Miles had a cute backstory in which Maya was pretty much irrelevant. Tristan calms down and apologises for being so on edge, he’s just nervous about the trial. Miles comes over to his side, cuddles him and reminds him he has his full support and Tristan smiles and settles down into his arms for a moment.

VIJAY has released the make-up tutorial and is checking the numbers while he shops with LOLA and SHAY. It’s getting far more likes than his music videos do. He’s frustrated and tells them it’s not fair, because his music is what he works hardest on and loves more, but Lola tells him to think positive – he’s getting more attention! Shay suggests he pursue make-up as a side hobby to draw attention to his music. He grins and tells her that’s a good idea at the very second they notice a huge sale at Sephora.

FRANKIE is watching a movie at home with her mom when she asks whether she wants to spend any time with her father at Christmas. Frankie says that she’d rather just stay home and have a quiet Christmas, and her mother is puzzled because she is usually obsessed with Christmas. Frankie says things have changed with her, and “maybe people should just accept that.”`

People saw TRISTAN in the background of VIJAY’S selfie, recognised him from his vlogs a couple of summers ago, and started shipping them even though Tristan is obviously with Miles. Vijay asks Tristan whether to say they already dated, but he says to try to ignore it unless it gets dangerous, because the only way to succeed and be happy is to keep doing what he loves. Vijay nods and goes to walk away, but Tristan has something else to say to Vijay – he’s sorry for how their relationship went down. He realises he treated him badly the whole time, but maybe Vijay didn’t notice because Tris didn’t when he was in Vijay’s position. He says it’s okay to be mad at him for everything, but Vijay says, “Nah, we’re cool.”

MILES finds out about the internet shipping of Trijay, and suspects that people are overlooking him in order to ship Tristan with someone else because they can see from his profile that he’s dated girls before. He asks TRISTAN if he believes in pansexuality, and when he asks what that is, Miles asks if he even believes in _bi_ sexuality, and after he explains that complex labels help people feel less alone, and more valid, he asks Tris again. Tris doesn’t understand why he can’t just stick to guys – he insists that Miles understands guys better, and he’s “probably better in bed” with them. Miles explains that _no one_ can choose their sexuality, but Tris doesn’t seem convinced.

JONAH is having a movie night with FRANKIE. She can’t decide what movie to watch, until he picks one and she says she really wants to see that one but she wants to be in a better place to enjoy it. He asks if she’s alright, and she says it’s probably just teenager-y stuff. He kisses her and she smiles, until he turns away and she doesn’t seem too thrilled anymore. He finds another movie, and asks if they should get popcorn first. She says, “Yeah, I want popcorn, but it’s not worth going to the kitchen and waiting and then coming all the way back here, y’know?” Jonah frowns and plays the movie.

VIJAY makes a video about how uncomfortable the shipping makes him, omitting that they already dated, and the response is divided – some people are calling him a stupid over-offended millennial, saying he should take it as a compliment etc. but the threats and insults upset him too much. He goes to Maya for advice, who tells him those people will get bored and move on, so he should stay low, don’t respond, and follow his dreams because those people were never going to buy his music anyway. He’s still bothered by the messages, so he privates everything but his music videos.

A stranger approaches MILES to thank him for the piece he has written for the school paper about being non-mono and the responses he got when he came out. They say it eloquently explained what they were going through and why those reactions hurt. Miles thanks them back, saying people will soon become more accepting, though he’s not very convincing because he doesn’t totally believe it, given Tristan’s earlier denial. WINSTON and MAYA come up to him, upset that their reactions were shown in a negative light, but he gets annoyed and says “Well, I don’t care about your hurt feelings either” and states that the important thing is he helped people. Maya and Winston, begrudgingly but genuinely, apologise, but Maya adds that she wished he’d said something to her instead of telling the whole world without warning. He realises that’s what he did to Tristan two years ago, and texts him that he’s sorry he “betrayed” him in a newspaper _again_.

JONAH loved the movie, but FRANKIE doesn’t seem too thrilled. He’s confused – it had everything she loves in a movie, and her favourite actress – but she says it just “didn’t do it” for her. Jonah is concerned, asking what’s really up with her. She shrugs noncommittally, and he suggests she might be developing depression, but she responds, “What do I have to be depressed about? I have everything, right? I’m rich, pretty, smart,  _white_ …” And he reminds her that her family is messed up, both her brothers are struggling with mental illness and she’s still occasionally harassed even though she learnt her lesson. He tells her it’s okay to admit she needs help. And she’s all like, “My brothers, they need help. I don’t. We can’t just be the screwed-up Hollingsworth family. I’m the favourite! My mom can’t handle any more.” He comforts her and convinces her to talk to a therapist.

TRISTAN finds Miles and stares at him, unreadable. MILES begs him not to be mad, saying he just had to get his thoughts out and needed people like him to be heard, but Tristan just hugs him tight. Miles, surprised, hugs back. Tristan says he had no idea what was going on in his head, and he wished he’d explained it to him instead letting him think he was “confused” because it was “weird”. He takes Miles’ hands and apologises sincerely, then says, “What I said at the debate hurt a lot of people, huh?” Miles tells him the best way to make amends is to apologise, without trying to make himself look like a great guy, and educate people going forward. Tristan’s like, ‘Yeah, I think I can do that.’ and they walk off into the sunset holding hands with happy piano music or something idk they’re happy and cute and healthy thanks bye


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i wonder what the deal is with the promo

ZOË is texting WINSTON about the job he’s applying for, when she gets a notification on her phone from Hastygram. Someone tagged her in a graphic photo of self injury aftermath. She stares at it, fascinated, jealous, and reaches into her bag for a lighter. Before she can find the lighter, though, she feels the piece of paper she wrote her DBT strategies on. She knows it’s the healthy thing to do, and pulls it out. ‘Drink ice water.’ ‘Listen to happy music.’ ‘Make funny faces in a mirror’. She does this last one, and can’t help smiling. She turns off her Hastygram notifications and texts Esme that she did it – she pulled herself out of it _and_ made a change to avoid that trigger in the future. Esme replies immediately that she’s proud of her, and Zoë smiles even harder. They’re just friends though.

WINSTON and TINY are talking while they wait for their interviews for a part time job at The Dot. Winston wants it to pay for driving lessons because he failed Driver’s Ed since his parents didn’t have time to take him for practice, whereas Tiny wants to be able to treat his girlfriend to nice things (and also to buy a blender because Zig wants one). Winston is rude to him about his motives in front of the interviewer. Only a few seconds of his interview is shown but he already seems totally incompetent.

GOLDI and BAAZ have to translate for their mom at parent/teacher interview day. All their teachers say they’ve been doing well, but Perino says he has been a little disruptive trying to be the class clown, even jumping out a ground-floor window to get laughs. He tells his mom in Arabic that he said he hadn’t always been focused in class so that she’d look a little disappointed but not actually be mad at him.

ZOË tells TRISTAN her agent suggested she audition for a character from Albania, and she’s excited to share her heritage – that is, if she can get the role. She’s nervous because the character is bi and she wasn’t able to kiss Winston believably in her last audition. Tristan tries to gently ask, with a preface of ‘I know this probably isn’t what happened, but – ’, if maybe the assault had anything to do with her sexuality. She almost gets angry at him, but he softly reminds her he knows that’s not the only reason to be queer. She understands, and tells him she was never into guys as much as she was into Grace. She always wanted boys for arm candy or power, and she didn’t really enjoy the sex, but felt she couldn’t tell anyone that. Tristan suggests that maybe she’s actually not lesbian, she could be non-mono, and maybe she just wasn’t attracted to Winston specifically, but she is sure that she’s lesbian.

TINY is running laps with SHAY when he gets a call. Shay goes on ahead while he answers: it’s the manager saying he didn’t get the job. Tiny is disappointed and asks for some feedback, but he had done everything remarkably well and the only issue was his criminal record. Tiny says he understands and thanks them for the opportunity. Shay runs up behind him and asks him who it was, but he just slinks off to the bleachers, dejected.

GOLDI pulls BAAZ aside to ask him why he wouldn’t tell the truth. He says he didn’t want her to be angry at him. Goldi tells him he should just own up and face the consequences because she wouldn’t be that hard on him, but he elaborates – it’s toxic to be angry, and he doesn’t think anyone should have to be angry if it can be helped. She insists that honesty is the best policy whatever your spiritual beliefs are, but he just asks whether she was going to tell or not. She doesn’t answer, so he walks away.

WINSTON smirks at TINY when he next sees him, and SHAY holds Tiny back before he can start a fight. He calms down when he looks into her eyes, and shoots her a quick grateful smile, then goes to talk to Winston calmly. Winston is an asshole, asking how he’s going to take his girlfriend to McDonalds now. Tiny lets it go, and asks him why he has to be so rude. Winston tells him he’s never had any respect for emotional cheaters and he’s heard all about Tiny’s love life from Zoë who caught up on the latest gossip from Frankie. Tiny then decides to pays him no mind, having heard stories about Winston from Miles’ article and from what Shay heard from Frankie.

ZOË realises the day before her audition that her outfit might be a little too revealing – of her self injury scars. She’s set out a comfortable tank top and shorts but the burn marks on her wrist and legs are very noticeable. She tries to cover them up with concealer but the colour still comes through. She asks on her secret depression-theme Hastygram account how others hide their self injury without clothes. A user (with a name suspiciously reminiscent of Frankie’s) suggests green concealer will help cancel out the red.

TINY was let out of the rubber room at the beginning of the year. He goes back to see Ms Grell to ask what to do about getting a job with his criminal record. She tells him it’s illegal to discriminate on the grounds of criminal record, and if he can prove that that was the exact and only reason he got, they could have a case for a lawsuit. He says he doesn’t want any trouble and The Dot looks like it has less money than a lawyer would cost. She refers him to a youth employment service.

GOLDI overhears from TRISTAN that Hunter has ODD and she asks if this has anything to do with Baaz disliking anger all of a sudden. Tris says it could be; he heard that Hunter exploded at his friends a few times the year prior. Tris then realises he needs to be way more careful what he says and around whom because it wasn't his right to out Hunter's diagnosis to, like, his enemy.

ZOË’S Hastygram friend (y’all know it’s FRANKIE) leaves another comment suggesting they make a pact to both quit for a week. Zoë replies in DM asking if she is really Frankie, but she only replies, ‘Do we have a deal?’ Zoë responds that she’s been doing better recently so it doesn’t seem fair; she doesn’t know Frankie’s circumstances and she’d rather they talk in person. Frankie doesn’t reply.

GOLDI, at home, knocks on BAAZ’ door and asks if they can talk. He’s trying not to be _as_ rude as usual because she still has that lie to hold over him, so he invites her in. She’s the sweetest sister ever and apologises for targeting the club even when she knew it was important to him. She only meant well but she’s sorry it hurt him and his friends, though the club getting shut down completely wasn’t her fault or her intention. He looks like he’s mad but pushes it down, instead choosing to thank her for the apology. She tells him she does love him, even though they have different political perspectives, and that she’s kinda proud as a big sister to see him getting good grades _and_ being a funny guy. They sit there for like ten minutes complimenting each other the end

TINY is at the youth employment service and his new case worker talks to him about how he can attend a program where they teach interview skills and how to keep a job and stuff like that, and on Saturdays employers come in trying to fill positions. She says most of them are looking for casual afternoon or weekend workers but a part-time job will make it easier to find a better job later on and he’s like, “You had me at ‘a job’.”  She takes him into the group room where the leader is going through resume guidelines with a diverse bunch of 15-25s and everyone is super nice and welcomes him. (can u tell this is my life rn)

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

MAYA is uncomfortable telling her mother she hasn’t had her period in two months. She thought nothing of it the first month but it’s starting to worry her. She asks if their insurance can cover an appointment with their GP. Margaret tells her not to worry about money, then says it’s probably her medication that’s affecting her endocrine system. Margaret asks whether she’s sure she’s pregnant, and Maya tells her there’s no way.

ZOË has made it to the second audition stage working alongside another (male) actor who was already cast. She is handed a completely new script, a challenging cold read especially with her reading difficulty, but she mentions that she has dyslexia and they tell her to just do what she can. Zoë does the scene super well, and they ask her to do the same scene but with a female actor playing the other part. She’s a little thrown by this.

GRACE, now that ZIG and Maya are definitively over, walks straight up to Zig at his locker and asks him if he’s interested in having sex with her. He’s baffled, and asks why, but she just asks again whether he’s in or not; she knows he’s had casual sex with Esme so why not her? Is he not attracted to her? He replies that it’s not that; he just doesn’t want to get into a situation like that when he knows she has feelings. She promises it can just be one time; she just wants to have sex with a guy “in case I die tomorrow or something morbid.” They laugh and he’s good natured like ‘aight where and when mate’

While at the doctor’s office, MAYA tries to take the lead explaining her medical history. Margaret interrupts her and takes over, including the date she and Zig broke up. Maya’s a little annoyed, but says nothing. The doctor asks whether there’s any chance she could be pregnant, and Maya says that there isn’t. Margaret suggests they undergo full blood work, and Maya restates that there is _no_ possibility of her being pregnant. Margaret doesn’t look convinced, and asks again for the blood work, “because there could be something else going on.”

After ZOË totally nails the scene (obviously), the casting director pulls Zoë aside and says she has a question for her, and it’s a little personal. Zoë plays it cool despite being unsure whether it’s about her self injury marks, a lack of chemistry, or something else. The casting director asks whether Zoë’s queer because her chemistry was off during the scene with the boy. She vehemently denies it, blaming the new script for throwing her off, but the casting director says it’s okay; they’re not sure whether they want the character to be non-mono yet as her love interest isn’t being written in for a while. Relieved, she blurts out, ‘Yes, I’m lesbian, I’m very, very lesbian. But I’m not out yet.’ She tells the casting director she only realised a year ago when she fell in love with a girl who turned around and said she was straight, and then apologises for the overshare. Everyone ends up just smiling at each other in a friendly way lol

After the bloodwork comes back clear, MAYA asks her mother why she didn’t trust her when she said she couldn’t be pregnant. Margaret simply says, “You’re not trustworthy.” Maya is affronted, asking what makes her think that. Her mother reminds her she’s snuck out multiple times, she’s never been open about sex with her and mentions that when Maya first got her period she started taking pads from the cupboard without ever telling anyone. Maya says she’s grown a lot since then, but Margaret reminds her of _just this morning_ when she was uncomfortable even saying the word ‘period’. Maya is embarrassed, humbled, and apologises for being a bit temperamental. They hug and Maya promises to be more honest with her – and trust her advice.

Zig is leaving GRACE‘s room. She forces a casual smile as they say an awkward ‘bye, friend’ because they were just friends with one time benefits. As soon as he’s gone, she stops smiling. She felt nothing. She’s confused, and grossed out by the condom in her trash.

ZOË calls FRANKIE, finally free from the stress of her callback, and asks if the account on Hastygram was her. Frankie says she’s seeing a therapist and she has something called dysthymia, and explains that it’s like depression but more stable and generally less severe. Zoë asks what she can do, but Frankie just says it’s being dealt with. She tells Zoë she was lying about hurting herself but she saw Zoë was doing it and was concerned about her, so she tried to help motivate her to stop. She wasn’t trying to lie about her identity, hence the obvious name, but she just didn’t want to use her public account to respond to a post about self injury in case it stirred anything up with her dad as mayor. Zoë realises she’s posted some pretty intense self injury hints on her public page and starts deleting them all.

GRACE finds MILES with TRISTAN and ZOË at a picnic table outside, and Zoë leaves without a word, having not been able to talk things out with Grace yet. Grace watches her leave, looking remorseful, and asks to speak to Miles for a moment, who is “suddenly the queer label expert”. She tells him (and Tristan, who swears not to tell a soul) that she didn’t like sex with Zoë but she didn’t like it with Zig either. Miles is like ‘Are you sure it wasn’t just the specific people, not the sex or gender?’ And she’s like, “I had strong feelings for them both. I liked kissing them both. I just feel like there’s something wrong with me.” He suggests she could be on the asexual spectrum, but Tris texts that he needs him and he apologises but promises to come talk to her later.

MAYA is at home when she overhears her parents talking about money. She knows they don’t want her to hear, but she listens anyway. Margaret suggests getting a financial advisor but her husband says they can’t afford that, and suggests they tighten their belts even more.

ZOË finds out from TRISTAN that West Drive superfans have been speculating about her self injury online. She wants to tweet a response but Tristan stops her, reminding her there’s still stigma with that kind of thing – it’s hard enough getting hired with a high profile assault case, and the fandom isn’t very educated with that kind of thing – himself included. She says she’ll take some time and maybe address it later, but he’s probably right.

MAYA is confronted by GRACE who demands to know why she didn’t read her text. Maya tells her she’s been avoiding charging her phone at home because the electricity bill adds up, and they go into their class. Maya plugs in her phone and hides it with her backpack. She ends up telling Grace about how her cycle used to be like clockwork, but now she has no idea when her period is coming. Grace sympathises and suggests she prepare with pads in case it’s more sudden or heavier than usual, but Maya says she doesn’t want to waste money like that. Grace asks if Maya gets disability benefits for her epilepsy medication, and Maya says even her mother isn’t on benefits for her MS; her family has the philosophy that if they don’t _need_ tax payer money, they won’t take it. She vows to make her clothes last longer and pass her share of the music earnings on to her family.


End file.
